Abstract: With the rapid development of economy, the pollution of heavy metal ions in water poses a threat to human health and ecosystem. Hydrogels have great potential in the treatment of heavy metal ions because of their good adsorption properties, renewability and low toxicity. This paper discusses the research progress in recent years on the preparation of hydrogels (cellulose-based hydrogels, hemicellulose-based hydrogels, lignin-based hydrogels, etc.) for the adsorption of heavy metals from agricultural solid wastes at home and abroad. The synthesis of agricultural solid waste based hydrogels, the adsorption effect, adsorption mechanism, and analytical methods for the removal of heavy metals are also discussed, and the effects of heavy metal adsorption by industrial solid waste based and other solid waste based hydrogels are enumerated. In order to help the researchers to have a deeper understanding of the investigation of heavy metal adsorption by agricultural solid waste based hydrogels.